It's time to vote for the quarterly Twoshirts Non-Profit Donation! This summer we are on track to receive at least $3000 in donations, which means that the non-profit group you vote for will receive a donation of at least $300.

Vote in the right-hand sidebar for one of three member-nominated non-profit groups:

One Note at a Time
Twoshirts member Kerri Seger has started her own non-profit for providing music instruction for impoverished children in Haiti. She needs funds for her upcoming summer trip. Read more about her organization by visiting her website linked above. We also profiled Kerri's amazing efforts in our recent Summer issue of The Gift, available now.

Brother Benno's
This social service organization in Oceanside, California serves the poor in their area with "Soup, Soap, Hugs, and Hope." Read more about them by clicking on the website link above.

One Block at a Time

As Recession Deepens, So Does Milk Surplus:

Mr. Van Groningen’s company does not own the surplus milk powder, but merely stores it for the new owners: the taxpayers of the United States. To date, the government has agreed to buy about $91 million worth of milk powder.

Even the cows are getting on on the government bailouts. The more tax dollars go to dairy farmers, the fewer dairy cows are shipped to meat processing plants.

We're pleased to announce the winner of our summer quarter non-profit donation: Brother Benno's! This fantastic organization in Oceanside, California was your choice according to voting results ending last night.

Brother Benno's provides everything from daily meals, free showers, bag lunches, and affordable furniture and housewares for struggling people in Oceanside. Their story is amazing, and well worth getting to know.

Accordingly, Brother Benno's will receive a donation from the Twoshirts community in the amount of $333.50 - which represents 10% of all support funds given to Twoshirts.org from June 1, through August 31, 2008.

There will be another donation at the end of the fall, so don't forget to nominate your favorite local non-profit for our next gift! We've already opened a new forum for nominations, so go there and make your nominations!

Piggy banks fly off shelves in freshly frugal U.S.

"We definitely noticed a trend with the piggy banks," said Erin Mara at Homebody, a design store in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, DC. "People were very upfront about the need to save...the pig is very symbolic of that sentiment," she said.

I don't know why, but that last statement made me laugh out-loud.

The time has come again to nominate your favorite local non-profit for our quarterly donation! Every three months we donate 10% of our revenue to a local non-profit based on your suggestions and votes!

Our summer donation went to Brother Benno's and our Spring donation went to the Mid-Ohio Food Bank. We'll be voting next week, so make your nominations now by commenting on this blog post below! But first, a couple of guidelines:

1. Only non-profits whose mission involves combating poverty.

2. Only those locally based in your area (wherever that may be). In other words, no national organizations who might already be relatively well-funded.

3. Please include the name, website link, and brief information about the organization.

This quarter we're on track to give away a minimum of another $300, so hurry up and make your nomination now so your favorite poverty relief charity has a shot at this donation!

Holiday Kindness May Have Cost Woman Her Job

They escorted me to my car as a criminal. It felt if you do something good for anyone, that you are going to be punished.

Am I missing something here?

Congratulations to One Block at a Time, the winner of our Fall Non-Profit Donation.

Our donation to One Block at a Time is $344, based on 10% of the donations we received for our operating expenses this quarter. We want to thank every one of you who participating by donating and voting this quarter. And don't forget to nominate your favorite non-profit in February for our next donation!

Nobel Prize Winner's Recession Solution? $5 Trillion Govt. Bailout

A stimulus plan of that size is probably not needed, but Krugman said he believes the $775 billion proposal from President-elect Barack Obama isn't big enough.

"We're not in a depression. But we are in a situation where the normal tools don't work and we're back to 1930s-type environment," Krugman said in an interview with ABC News. "Government spending is the only surefire way to create employment."

Well, if there's one thing we can count on it's the competency and efficiency of government solutions.

I received this e-mail from Twoshirts member Rick Summers recently:

I love my Two Shirts t-shirt. I wear it everywhere. Here I am with Lori just after zip lining on the island of Kauai, Hawaii for her birthday. The other people are our tour guides Sherry and Kimo.

Awesome Rick, thanks for wearing it and thanks for the picture! If anyone else has a picture of themselves visiting somewhere fun with their Twoshirts T-shirt, why not send it in so we can post it?

Clawson, Mich. celebrates, practices acts of kindness

Free haircuts for kids, hearing tests for seniors, clothing drives and letter-writing stations to send notes to those serving in the military are among the offerings. More than 35 downtown businesses are offering free gift certificates.

Very cool.

We're excited to announce our food and clothing drive for the Oceanside Stand Up For Kids chapter. There are over 1.5 million homeless children, teens, and young adults in the United States, including right here in Oceanside California. Stand Up For Kids serves these teens four nights a week with desperately needed food, clothing, counseling, and supportive relationships and - we can help by making sure they have the resources they need.

We're sponsoring a food and clothing drive between now and January 2nd to support their efforts. We're asking you to join us in collecting as many of the following items as possible:

• New socks
• New or gently used jeans
• Non-perishable food, especially canned soups, ravioli, spaghetti with pop-top lids

Bring these items to us, or schedule a pickup and we'll sort and pack all of it and bring it to the Stand Up For Kids center in Oceanside where it will be used to help these kids survive day-to-day.

Here's how it works:

Kindness will help economy, homeless woman's rescuer says

"You don't have to be a politician to put forth a stimulus package," Chene Thompson said during a joint interview with Hughes Thursday on CNN's "American Morning." "This is our own little mini-stimulus package for a person who was a stranger and now is a friend.

I rest my case.

From the UN Food and Agriculture Organization...

“High food prices are driving millions of people into food insecurity, worsening conditions for many who were already food-insecure, and threatening long-term global food security.”

Shark attacks drop; recession blamed

Even sharks are feeling the bite from economic tough times, say researchers, who report shark bites are down with fewer tourists hitting the waves. Shark attacks dropped to their lowest level in five years worldwide last year, said George Burgess of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida, who reports attacks fell from 71 in 2007 to 59 in 2008, with four fatalities. "With the price of gas high, fewer people went to the beach," Burgess suggests.

Uh, okay...

Hey gang, I've enabled comments on the front page articles now. I'd love to see hear some of your input and discussion on those topics.